


Worth It

by pancake2



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, Teeny bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 10:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancake2/pseuds/pancake2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has a soulmate, but not everyone wants to know of theirs right away. Will Cecil be able to wait for his to decide that he wants to know?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> My first actual contribution to WTNV yay~
> 
> Also my first fic on here~
> 
> [Joanna](http://exactamondo.tumblr.com) beta'd this cuz she's awesome and if there's anything wrong it's cuz I fucked up sorry
> 
>  
> 
> ~~the summary sucks ass just read the story trust me on this~~

He'd been waiting for this for years, so now that it was about to happen, why was he so nervous?

He looked down at the tattoo on his wrist, watching as the numbers descended, the count of hours finally lowering to just six. Today would be the day then, the day he'd finally meet his soulmate.

Hadn't this been something he was looking forward to just a few days before? Perhaps his sudden nervousness had been aroused by just how _real_ the situation was suddenly becoming. But _why?_ He _knew_ this time that whoever he met would really be the one he'd been missing his whole life, and there was no way they could hurt him.

He sighed heavily, standing up and choosing to not think about it for now, instead readying himself for the day, making sure he looked his best; this was an important day, after all.

As he went about his daily routine around town, he kept an eye out for anyone he wasn't familiar with. This was a bit challenging, as nothing was ever quite normal in Night Vale, and some people tended to entirely alter their appearances on a biweekly basis. All the same, when he stopped at Big Rico's for his municipally mandated slice of pizza, he glanced out the window, and swore he saw someone walking through the door to the building next door while holding a large box. A clear sign that someone was moving in, right? Who would take large boxes into a building that had been vacant for so long if not someone who was moving in?

One of the interns from the radio station, who had just walked into the restaurant, noticed Cecil staring out the window, and offered, "I just talked to him a while ago, he says he's a scientist. I'm not sure what he's doing here, but I guess he's renting out that lab..."

The intern continued to talk, but Cecil was suddenly distracted as he noticed the stranger walk out of the building again. His hair was gloriously long and groomed to perfection, and something about his crisp, white lab coat just made him look so... _smart_. The corners of Cecil's mouth perked up into a little grin. Perhaps this perfect stranger is the person he's destined to meet in - he looks at the tattoo - two hours, twenty-three minutes and fifty-one seconds. _I guess I'll find out soon_ , Cecil thinks to himself.

It's later that evening, when the clock is down to mere minutes, that Cecil finds himself talking about this new stranger on the radio, positively _gushing_ over his absolutely _perfect_ hair and truly _beautiful_ lab coat.  He rarely talked about his personal life on the radio, but he supposed this was important enough to change that.

His phone buzzed suddenly, and he was afraid that Station Management had gotten angry with him for straying from news, but he read the text anyway, and it informed him of a town meeting which he was asked to attend, and breathed a small sigh of relief as he put on a pre-recorded news segment and dashed from the recording booth, quickly grabbing the bright purple bracelet he had brought with him and covering the clock tattoo with it, as it counted down to exactly two minutes.  He couldn't be sure if his soulmate wanted to know the time left on theirs or not, and he figured he was better safe than sorry.

He had been counting down the seconds since he put the bracelet on, and he arrived at the meeting spot just as the clock should have counted down to approximately eight seconds.  He looked around the room anxiously, noting that the same stranger from before was the only person in the room whom he thought he had not previously met, causing a stupid grin to spread across his face.

The stranger walked toward him, and Cecil couldn't stop thinking, _God, Cecil, whatever you do, don't fuck this up._

Just as his clock should have ticked down to all zeros, the man before him gave a small smile, and greeted simply, "Hello, I'm Carlos."

 _Carlos_. The name ran through Cecil's mind half a million times in about the span of a second. Absolutely _perfect_.

Cecil attempted to calm himself as he extended his arm and, with a bit too much enthusiasm, returned, "I'm Cecil!" He may have accidently held onto Carlos' hand for just a second longer than necessary after he'd shaken hands with him, but was that _really_ important?

Before Carlos walked away, Cecil decided he needed to make some sort of compliment to him, to make sure to grab his attention, but there was just so much about him that was so _wonderful_.  There were his perfectly straight teeth, his wonderfully square jaw, his long and beautiful hair, his crisp, clean lab coat, but somehow, Cecil settled for blurting out, "That's a really beautiful bracelet!"

 _Damn_ , Cecil cringed internally, _way to make a first impression_. The bracelet wasn't much, just a subdued beige, leather band, but Cecil felt that his eyes had probably drifted to the area out of curiosity if the man left his clock uncovered or not.

Carlos gave him a slightly questioning look, but shrugged, "It isn't much of anything, it's just that I always thought I'd rather be surprised by whoever my soulmate is, so I don't look at my clock." Cecil thought that he saw him blush ever so slightly at this somewhat personal confession, but it might have been a hallucination. Not uncommon in Night Vale.

This news was slightly devastating to Cecil, as he couldn't leap into his soulmate's arms just yet, but he understood where he was coming from.  He, too, had once had a similar mindset, but it had been years since his clock was last covered, because he decided he didn't want anyone using him the way that - _No, Cecil, don't think about that, that's in the past, it's_ over _now, and_ Carlos _is your soulmate._

Realising it had probably been a moment too long since Carlos had finished his statement, Cecil nodded in at least what he _thought_ was a calm manner.

Carlos shot him another small, perfect smile before heading to the front of the room to begin the meeting.  Cecil hardly paid attention throughout the short meeting, mostly just listening to that perfect voice.

When he returned to the station, he slid the bracelet off and smiled down at the many zeros that now adorned his wrist. _Yes_ , he thought happily, _he really_ is _the one._

He sighed as he sat back in his chair, turning his microphone back on just as the prerecorded message ended.  He couldn't help but gush about Carlos, accidentally letting it slip that he had "fallen in love instantly." He hoped Carlos wouldn't think too much of it if he heard.

\---

For over a year, Cecil would gush over Carlos from time to time, because he _just couldn't help it!_ He almost wished that he didn't know about his soulmate, because then he wouldn't have to live with the constant pain of unreciprocated feelings.  Luckily for him, though, Carlos had slowly seemed to talk to him more and more, and he couldn't help but hope that this was leading to something more than mere friendship.  It was that one night, right after Carlos' near-death experience at the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex, when the two sat on the hood of Carlos' car and stared at the lights above the Arby's sign, that Cecil thought that maybe, just maybe, something was going to happen.

But the next day came, and the next day, and after about a week, Cecil settled for the possibility that they might only ever be friends. He tried not to let it bother him, because really, it wasn't Carlos' fault, he couldn't be mad at him. But... he couldn't stop hoping that maybe that night had truly meant something. Sure, Carlos called him, and talked to him... But it was never anything intimate, as Cecil hoped it one day would be.

It was nearly a month after that night, when Cecil's phone rang, Carlos' beautiful face flashing onto the display screen.  Cecil was quick to answer it, greeting hurriedly, "Hi Carlos!"

Carlos took an audible breath before stuttering, "I-I'm calling for... for p-personal reasons."

Cecil shot up in his seat, more excited than he'd been in a long time. Was this it? Was Carlos _finally_ asking him out?

He was so busy trying to keep his excited state a quiet one that he nearly missed as Carlos suggested a date at Gino's Italian Dining Experience & Grill & Bar. Cecil was barely able to squeak out a yes.

The two met up, and the entire night was absolutely _wonderful_ and would be described in very precise detail the following day on the radio. When Cecil woke up the next morning, he feared it might have all been a dream (because he had had _plenty_ of dreams about Carlos before), but as he thought back on the previous night, it had all been just a bit too _real_ to have been a dream. _Especially_ that kiss. Carlos' lips had been so wonderfully soft and Cecil would have loved to have kissed him back had he not been too shocked to do so, and had it lasted more than the few seconds that it did. _Oh, Carlos_ , Cecil thought, sighing happily as he pushed himself out of bed, snatching his phone from the night stand to send a text to the very man he had woken up thinking of.

\---

Cecil could hardly believe it as he looked at his calendar. _Wow_. It had really been one whole _year_ since he and Carlos had begun dating.

He glanced in the mirror for likely the thousandth time, giving himself yet another once-over, nervous that what he was wearing might not be just... _right_.  In all honesty, he wasn't sure what _right_ was, because Carlos had only told him that they would be celebrating their anniversary at his apartment, and Cecil was not completely sure of what he meant by _celebrating_.  From what he had learnt about Carlos in the two years since he'd come to Night Vale, he probably did _not_ mean anything involving some sort of sacrificial rituals, as many celebrations (at least those which Cecil was aware of) tended to entail, but that was about as much as he was able to speculate as far as how this evening might go.

"Stop _worrying_ so much, Cecil!" he chided himself, glancing in the mirror one final time, smoothing his skirt a bit before turning around and quickly leaving his apartment before he could convince himself to back out.

Another wave of nervousness washed over him the moment that he knocked on Carlos' door, but it was quickly washed away when his boyfriend opened the door and greeted him with a kiss and a breathy, "God, Cecil, you're _beautiful_."

A soft lavender crept onto Cecil's cheeks and he bent down to kiss Carlos again, muttering, " _Shut up_ ," against his lips. After a moment, he pulled away to take in Carlos' simple yet absolutely _perfect_ outfit - a deep burgundy dress shirt that perfectly accented his dark skin, paired with tight black jeans that Cecil imagined gripped his ass quite nicely. He nearly didn't notice as he grinned, "You look _perfect_ , Carlos!"

Carlos chuckled softly, standing on his toes and whispering, "Now it's _your_ turn to shut up," as he pecked at his boyfriend's lips once again. He then grabbed both of Cecil's hands and pulled him inside, causing him to stumble into Carlos' arms, which made him giggle a bit and shoot him an embarrassed smile. Even after a year, they hadn't quite gotten the whole romance thing down very well.

Once Cecil had caught his balance, Carlos led him into the kitchen, where it was clear that he had put a lot of effort into making a romantic setting. Two plates of steaming pasta ( _"Don't worry, Cecil, it's made with rice flour,"_ ) were laid on the table, each accompanied by a simple wineglass, and there were a few glowing candles as well as a bottle of wine making up the centerpiece of the table. Their first date had been something that Cecil had gone most of his life thinking of as a "normal" date, so Carlos had decided that for their first anniversary, they would have something akin to what someone from nearly anywhere but Night Vale might consider to be a "normal," romantic evening.

Of course, Carlos completely butchered that idea when he accidentally spilled a bit of wine as he attempted to pour it into a glass, putting out two of the three candles as well as creating a large, red stain in the center of the table cloth. Cecil was confused; he hadn't seen Carlos this nervous on a date since sometime around the first month they had begun dating, but his hands were constantly shaking just a bit, and as things went less and less according to plan ( _when you're trying to relight candles, wiping the alcohol of off them first might be a good idea, Mr. Scientist_ ), he seemed to become more and more flustered.

When he finally sat back down, Cecil reached across the table to grab Carlos' hand, rubbing his palm gently while looking into his eyes with genuine concern and asking, "Carlos, my dear, is something bothering you?"

Carlos' eyes darted for a brief moment to the bright purple bracelet adorning Cecil's wrist before looking back up into his boyfriend's eyes and sighing, "No, Cecil, I just... This was a much better idea in my head..."

Cecil frowned for a moment, then quickly blew out the candles, pushed them aside and stood up to turn the light on, returning to his seat and smiling, "There! Safer, _and_ I can see you better!"

Carlos blushed slightly before looking at his plate and silently beginning to eat. Cecil gave a small smile and lifted a spoonful of pasta to his mouth, praising Carlos' cooking a bit too enthusiastically, and also forgetting that he probably shouldn't talk with food in his mouth.  Carlos just laughed softly; little quirks like this were ones he'd grown used to.

Once they had finished eating, Carlos suggested watching a movie, which Cecil would have normally agreed to in a heartbeat, but the slight tremor in Carlos' voice made him worry yet again about just what was going on. He grabbed both of Carlos' hands and pulled him into the living room and onto the couch beside him, looking him in the eyes and saying simply, "I'm not doing anything until you let me know what's wrong. You aren't usually this nervous, Carlos, and you're scaring me a bit," he accentuated his last comment with a little pout.

Carlos chuckled lightly, "You live in _Night Vale_ and you're scared because I seem _nervous_?"

Cecil said nothing but nodded seriously, seeming to be waiting for a better response.

Carlos sighed, running a trembling hand through his long hair before admitting, "Well... I guess I was thinking that since it's a year since we've been together that maybe... We should look at our clocks?" He seemed to have finished, but then quickly blurted, "Only if... if you want to, I mean. I just thought... You know, if we are..." he made some sort of vague hand gesture and Cecil nodded, urging him to go on. "Anyway, if we are... I mean, what a great first anniversary would that be, right? But then again... If we aren't that could really fuck everything up and I just-"

Cecil didn't let him finish, cutting him off with an extremely enthusiastic kiss, pulling away and grinning widely, "I think that's an absolutely _perfect_ idea, Carlos!"

Carlos gave a small smile, "Alright it's just... In high school, there was this one girl... Not much happened, we just went on a date or two before she looked at hers, and now that I think back on it I don't know _why_ I was so upset... I dunno. That doesn't matter now, right?"

Cecil just nodded, asking, "Should we take them off at the same time?"

"Sure, on the count of three?"

Cecil nodded again, and the two began to count, "One, two, three!"

Once the bracelets were off, they held their wrists next to one another's and huge grins spread across both men's faces when they saw the zeros in matching turquoise. Carlos climbed into his boyfriend's - no, _soulmate's_ \- lap, kissing him senseless. Cecil smiled into the kiss, overwhelmed by the sheer happiness that he was feeling.

Just before either could go too far, Carlos pulled back, cradling Cecil's face in his hand as he asked, "Cecil, did you... Did you know, before just now, that..?"

Cecil bit his lip, glancing to the side before sighing, "Yeah, sorry..."

Carlos shook his head, "No, it's alright, just... Thank you. For keeping it to yourself. I can't begin to imagine how hard that was..."

Cecil shrugged, "I used to hide it for myself. I guess whenever I thought about telling you I just thought about how I felt when... N-nevermind."

Carlos gently rubbed Cecil's cheek, frowning, "What is it?"

Cecil cringed slightly, "It's different here though. At least if I let it slip it would have been _good_ news, right?"

"Cecil-"

"Okay fine!" There were a few visible tears in Cecil's eyes as he choked out, "I used to cover mine and then that... that _Steve Carlsberg_ ruined _everything_!" His whole body was trembling at this point, but he ignored Carlos' attempts to stop him, insisting, "No, now I need to tell you the story, I already started it! It was- it was in college. I met him and I thought, you know, this guy isn't so bad, maybe he's even a little cute, I dunno. Nowhere _near_ as beautiful as you, though, Carlos! Anyway, he... he asked me on a date. I figured, hey, what do I have to lose, right? So I said yes and, well... _I_ thought things were going pretty well... We- we were sharing an apartment eventually, and he was so _nice_ to me, Carlos, he always went out of his way to be so horribly sweet and I just don't understand _why_! But I thought, hey, maybe he only covers his wrist around me, right? Maybe he knows he's my soulmate and _that's_ why he does all this! So one night... I- I thought it would be... a good idea... t-to look at my clock and... I told him and m-aybe... maybe I should have... p-paid more attention... when he... he looked panicked but... I dunno, I didn't care, and I looked, and... There were _years_ left, Carlos! _Years_! And I... I'd wasted two fucking years of my _life_ on that... that _asshole_! And... he... His numbers… they weren’t even turquoise! T-they were orange! _Orange_! And then he… he had the guts... to tell me that he _knew_ I wasn't his soulmate! He had just been _using_ me!" Cecil's words were becoming more and more difficult to understand through his sobbing and hiccupping, but Carlos just pulled him into his lap, doing his best to console him, rubbing circles on his back and placing soft kisses on his temple when he seemed most upset.

"Cecil, I... I don't know what to say..."

Cecil shook his head violently, "No, it's... It's alright I just... He was such a fucking _bastard_! And... and what made it even worse... He said his clock had... had counted... t-to... zeros... a few _days_ before... 'Some ugly bitch,' he called her, and I just... I was so _angry_ and I... I threw the stupid bracelet, one that... that _he_ had given me... I threw it at him... And I just... I just stormed out. Sobbed in my... my recording booth... for _hours_. I... It hurt so _badly_ , Carlos!"

Carlos was devastated that he didn't know how to comfort Cecil, but he somehow settled for holding him even closer yet and whispering soft sounds that may or may not have even been words, and pressing occasional kisses to his temple, hoping it was somehow calming him down.

Before either realized it, they had both drifted off to sleep, Cecil lying atop Carlos, still practically clinging to him in his sleep.

The following morning, Carlos woke up to find a snoring Cecil perched atop his chest, his glasses askew, and he couldn't help but smile at the man he'd fallen in love with long before he had found out that he was his soulmate. He gently shook him awake, and Cecil looked down at him with a groggy smile, whispering, "Hi," with a bit of a giggle.

Carlos just smiled dumbly back at him, "I've found my soulmate."

Cecil's grin widened, and he leaned down to kiss Carlos happily. He decided right then and there that all of that waiting had been absolutely worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> You can just ignore this if you want but
> 
> So yeah major headcanon in here that I generally don't have but it worked here and this is an alternate universe so yeah but ANYWAY there's that one headcanon that Cecil dated Steve Carlsberg and yeah that idk it fit here why am I still talking
> 
> I feel like I should say more but I have nothing to say oh well thanks for reading~


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